Edward McMahon, CEO, Epec, LLC

With the exponential growth of electronics in cars, smart phones and homes, manufacturers are demanding improvements in throughput, yield and performance. Miniaturization and other technical challenges require continuous advancement in manufacturing equipment.

Manufacturers are also focused on Industry 4.0 and the resulting improvements in yield, overall equipment effectiveness, and lights out factory capabilities.

ITW EAE, the Electronic Assembly Equipment division of ITW, brings together the world-leading brands of electronics assembly equipment. The combined knowledge and experience of the ITW EAE group is driving further innovation and speeding the development of next generation technology.

Here is a sampling of the innovations we will be presenting in 2018:

1. MPM Printers -- The Edison is now the industry's fastest, most accurate, and most repeatable printer platform on the market. This platform, along with the Momentum portfolio, will continue to be enhanced and will become even more differentiated and valuable.

2. Camalot Dispensers -- We are bringing to market two very exciting product technologies. Dynamic Dual Head™ (DDH) offers the unique ability to double dispense speed while maintaining the highest level of accuracy for both dispense pumps.

The patented design corrects for part-to-part rotation in "real-time" allowing synchronous dispensing of both pumps. NuJet™ is the latest jetting technology from Camalot that eliminates the use of a needle and incorporates a state-of-the-art pneumatic actuator that generates an operating frequency of up to 300Hz.

3. Vitronics Soltec Soldering -- We are currently working with two of the world's leading automotive suppliers to bring product enhancements to the ZEVA Selective Soldering line.

4. Electrovert Cleaners and Wave Soldering -- We continue to make enhancements to this highly differentiated line that will bring added control and process performance to our customers.